Jean's 3 Days of Desperation
by noragamii
Summary: In which Jean desperately tries to win Mikasa over and fails miserably…for the most part ;). Jeankasa.


**Day 1**

I've been called many things in my life: dumb, lazy, spoiled, stuck-up, horseface, etcetera. But despite all of those insults, I know one thing for sure about myself: I know what I want. And at this point in my life, I have never wanted anything or anyone more than Mikasa Ackerman.

I know what you're probably saying. "Just give it up Jean!" "She's unattainable!" "It's clear she isn't interested!" But you know what? Fuck that! I will not sit around waiting for Mikasa to realize how perfect we are for each other. And I will _definitely_ not sit around only to let one of the other losers get her before I can. Mikasa may not like me now, but after today I will charm the freaking _pants _off of her. Mmmm…Mikasa without pants. Sorry, sorry!

Anyway, I have my plan all figured out, so now all I need to do is find Mikasa. I find her out on the field, running laps. Her hair is in a messy ponytail around her sweaty face, but she still looks like an angel to me.

"Hey, Mikasa!"

No response. She probably can't hear me. I move closer.

"Hey, Mikasa, I need to ask you something!"

Again, nothing. Well. She must be breathing pretty hard or something. I decide to jog along side her. There's no way she can't hear me now.

"Hey, um, so I was wondering if," I take a moment to catch my breath. Damn, she's going fast, " anyway, sorry. I was wondering if you'd like to uh, hang out something or something? I don't know. Nothin fancy. Like…lunch! Wanna do that?"

She silent again, the only sounds are of our heavy breathing and feet hitting the ground. She's staring straight ahead and I start to get a bad feeling.

"Mikasa?" I say quietly. I hope I'm not pissing her off. Maybe I'm bothering her. This was really a mistake. She whips toward me.

"I'm really busy Jean. Sorry." And with that she sprints off, leaving me frozen and completely stunned.

**Day 2**

After yesterday's failure I decided to sleep on it and think of a new idea the next day. Unfortunately, asking her out was my one idea. I mean, it's pretty basic and usually works so I hadn't exactly thought of a backup plan. I spot Jaeger in the hall, strutting around like he owns the fucking place or something.

"Hey, Jaeger! I need help with something," it wounds my pride, asking that little shit for help, but I figure no one knows better what Mikasa wants than her brother.

"Oh great, what the fuck do you want?"

"Listen man, this is awkward for me but I kinda need to know…what sort of things does Mikasa like? Like, what makes her in to a guy?"

He's silent for a moment and then he starts cracking up, leaning against the wall like this is the most fucking hilarious thing he's ever heard. I'm pretty pissed now, and completely regretting my decision to ask him.

"Oh my god, you wanna ask her out?" He can hardly breath now. "Jean, even if I knew what Mikasa's in to, never in a million years would I tell you. I'd rather Mikasa date a titan than you," he gives me a slap on the shoulder, "good luck though, bud," he says mockingly.

Well, as usual that little fucker did nothing.

"I can help." The voice comes from right behind me and I nearly fall over I'm so surprised.

"Fuck!" I stop as soon as I see who it is. "Squad Leader Hanji? "

"Hey, Jean. Want some advice?"

"Um…" I'm not sure how I feel about taking relationship advice from this crazy woman, but at this point I'm desperate, "sure?"

"Mikasa's really strong, right? So what you gotta do is, you gotta show her that you're strong too!

"Ok?" I'm not really sure where she's going with this.

"Come on, I'll show you what to do," without any further explanation, she grabs my arm and starts pulling me in the direction of the field.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?" For a crazy lady, she's surprisingly strong.

"Just trust me, Jean," and Hanji looks back at me, one of those insane 'I'm gonna experiment on you' looks in her eyes. This is bad.

We reach the field, and of course, there's Mikasa running laps again. How much does that chick work out?

"Hey, Ackerman!" Hanji calls out. Mikasa stops immediately.

"Yes, Ma'am?" Her eyes flick from Hanji to me, and then they narrow. I'm starting to really regret ever letting Hanji take me here. Or talk to me, for that matter!

"If you fight Jean and he wins, will you date him?"

What? _What the fuck?_ This is insane. This is legitimately the stupidest idea I've ever heard. I move to get away, run away, anything, but Hanji grabs my arm again.

"Don't move." I'm frozen in place, and Mikasa's staring me down, probably wondering if I put Hanji up to this. I want to scream that this wasn't my idea and I never wanted anything to happen, but honestly I'm scared of what Hanji will do to me if I open my mouth.

"Hm. Why not," Mikasa says and gives a little laugh. And not like a friendly, this is funny laugh. Like an 'I'm going to crush you and than chop off your sorry excuse for a dick' laugh. I'm completely fucked.

Hanji pushes me forward.

"Good luck, Jean! Fight for the girl!"

I have no words. Mikasa puts up her arms in a fighting stance and I figure if I'm gonna die, I should go down fighting. I bring my arms up as well and settle in to my stance.

"I'm sorry," I say and there's no response.

"Three…two…one…go!"

I make a move toward Mikasa, hoping to trip her so she falls, but she gets to me first.

It's really hard to even follow what's happening. Her fist somehow sneaks its way right into my stomach, and bend over, letting out a fast breath of air. Before I can recover, her foot is behind mine and with a sweeping motion my butt is crashing to the ground.

"Done," Mikasa says calmly and walks away.

"That's ok Jean!" Hanji calls from her spot, "You'll find another girl one day!"

Well at this point I'm done. I'm more than done. I'm fucking done with everything. I push myself up from the ground and stomp right by Hanji.

"Jean?" She sounds like she completely enjoyed my humiliation. I flip her off without turning around. I don't care if it gets me kicked out. I don't care if fucking Levi beats the shit out of me.

I might as well give up on Mikasa all together.

**Day 3**

Even though I had told myself I would give up, the next day brought me the perfect opportunity. I went into the dining hall that morning, completely prepared to have to face Mikasa and apologize but I got lucky because she wasn't there.

I sit down next to Armin. "Hey, where's Mikasa?"

"Oh, she's freaking out. She somehow lost her scarf. She's been looking for it all morning."

I understand how big of a deal that is. Her scarf means everything to her, and I can only imagine how awful it must be that she lost it. And then it hits me, the perfect way to win Mikasa over. I'll find her scarf for her!

I sit up from my seat quickly. "Gotta go, sorry."

Armin looks confused. "Um, where are you going?"

I'm already leaving the room when he asks and I don't bother to respond.

I stop as soon as I get out of the dining hall. I have to think about where her scarf might be. I figure the best place to start is outside, since she does spend a lot of time out there working out and training and stuff.

I start near the stables, but no luck. I make my way around the whole building, but there's no sign of her red scarf.

Oh. I'm such an idiot. It probably fell off at the field! She's always training there, it was bound to come off at some point.

I run over, excited that there might be a chance that I could find her scarf and finally win her over, but again I'm disappointed. Despite looking all over, it's nowhere to be found. I sit down. This had been my last hope, and after everything that had happened the past few days there was no way Mikasa would ever be interested in me, least of all talk to me, again.

I allow myself to wallow in self-pity for a little longer until I push myself off the ground. But before I walk away, something catches my eye. Around the perimeter of the field there are trees, and in one of them there's something hanging in it, bright red, and flowing in the wind.

I let out a whoop of joy and sprint over. There it is! Somehow, her scarf must have flown from wherever it was lying and lodged itself in the tree. I quickly climb up the tree and pull it from the branch, being careful not to snag it on anything. I sprint back to the building, picturing how Mikasa will react. Maybe she'll forgive me for everything? Or give me a big hug? Or, even better, swoon at my feet and announce that she wants to do me right there, right now? Oh, that would be great.

I burst in to the room where Armin, Eren, Levi, and Hanji are sitting.

"Jean? Do you need something?" Levi asks coldly.

"Sorry sir, but do you know where Mikasa is?"

"Oh my god, Jean, just give it up," Eren snaps at me, but I just pull the scarf from behind my back and he shuts up. The look on his face is priceless.

"I think she's in her room," he says quietly.

"Thanks," and I'm off again, taking the stairs two at a time until I reach her door. I pause, before knocking on the door a few times.

"Come in." Mikasa sounds sad, no doubt, and all I can think about is how happy she'll be when she sees her scarf again.

I come into the room and her eyes narrow when she sees me.

"Jean, I'm really not in the mood," I silence her by pulling out her scarf.

"Wha-Jean how did you get that?" She steps toward me a bit cautiously. I'll admit, I'm enjoying this very much.

"I heard you had lost it, so I looked for it. Here you go," I hand it to her and she takes it from me, holding the scarf close to her chest. For a moment she's still, eyes closed. Then she lunges toward me, and honestly I expect her to punch me or something, but instead she pulls me in for a huge hug.

I'm frozen for a moment, and then I allow myself to really enjoy the hug, wrapping my arms around her waist and inhaling her sweet scent. Her hair feels as soft as it looks against my cheek, and in that moment I think I am probably the happiest man alive. Of course, it's short lived, Mikasa pulling back quickly with an absolutely _adorable_ blush on her face. She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear nervously.

"Er, sorry about that. I'm just really thankful. I mean, everyone knows how much this thing means to me," she gives me a smile and I nearly melt.

"Hey, it's no big deal,' I say shrugging, "oh, and sorry about yesterday…and the day before that. Yesterday Hanji randomly decided she was gonna try to embarrass me as much as possible, and the day before that…"

"Jean, it's fine," she cuts me off, thankfully, "I'm over it. And after what you've done for me, I have no right to be annoyed."

Wow. Well I had not expected this sort of reaction from Mikasa. I had always been in awe of her beauty and strength, but I guess I never realized how kind she could be. Even though she usually seems so cold, if she has a reason to be nice to you, she will be. And that makes me like her even more.

"Ok that's good, cause…maybe you wanna get some lunch? To thank me?"

Great, I don't even know why I decided to say that. Well that _definitely_ fucked all of my good work up. I can even see a little frown appearing on her face and she rolls her eyes.

"Ugh, seriously?" Yup, that's it. No chance for me with her now, or ever. Wait…is she smiling?

"Actually, I'd love to," she chuckles, 'might as well give you a chance, huh?"

"Yes, yes! You should give me a chance!" Whoa, whoa, getting a little excited there. I clear my throat. "Uh, I mean, that sounds great. Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow," she confirms, and gives me another quick hug. It's short, but I nearly faint.

I may not have gotten her fierce declaration of love and want for me, but I did get a date with Mikasa, and to me, that's enough.


End file.
